The Climate Crisis Has a Housing Problem: What Happens When “Staying Indoors” Isn’t an Option?
In recent weeks, New Yorkers, alongside Americans across the country, have received several public safety alerts to the tune of “Stay Indoors,” “Avoid Strenuous Activities,” and “Close Your Windows.” But for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness or housing instability, “stay indoors” isn’t always a simple instruction to follow.
According to recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, around 750,000 individuals experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2025, including more than 266,000 people who were living in unsheltered locations.
In New York City, the Department of Social Services estimated that nearly 5,000 people were experiencing unsheltered homelessness on a single night as recently as March 2026.
It is currently August 2026, and this summer alone has brought New Yorkers repeated reminders of how dangerous extreme weather can be.
In June, heat indices approached 109 degrees.
In July, wildfire smoke from Canada pushed the city’s air quality index as high as 289, a “Very Unhealthy” level. The smoke arrived as the city was already dealing with an ongoing heat wave.
It was reported that New York City had the third-worst air quality that was reported that day, Thursday, July 16, out of all the major world cities.
In response, city officials repeatedly offered the same advice: stay inside, find air conditioning, limit times outdoors, and keep windows closed. These instructions rely on something many people take for granted: having a safe place to be indoors.
Mayor Mamdani spoke out during the heat emergency, calling the extreme heat “deadly,” saying “City government is taking historic measures to keep all New Yorkers indoors, cool, and safe.”
New York City itself recognizes the connection between housing and heat vulnerability. The city’s Health Department identifies inequities in housing quality and access to cooling as factors contributing to unequal heat-related deaths.
According to the department, more than 500 New Yorkers die prematurely from hot weather each summer, and most of these deaths occur among people exposed to dangerous temperatures in homes without air conditioning.
The lack of access to cooling equipment and affordable energy to operate it remains a top concern and risk factor for heat-related death, and we can imagine the impact of these conditions only increases for underhoused populations who are experiencing the full impacts of weather.
The Department of Social Services Commissioner Erin Dalton states, “Keeping New Yorkers safe throughout the city’s hot summer months requires a coordinated strategy that reaches vulnerable New Yorkers where they are and ensures everyone is aware of the resources that are available to help them stay cool … outreach to people staying outside: offering education and connections to cooling centers and shelters.”
Another New York City official commented on extreme heat, saying, “Hot weather is a silent but deadly killer … These deaths are preventable, and as our city becomes hotter due to climate change, we must continue investing in access to air-conditioning and affordable energy to help New Yorkers stay safe in their homes, especially those most vulnerable to the health impact of heat.”
While NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister F. Martin’s comment is correct, it raises another question: What about those who do not have homes to stay safe in?
What do people without a home address do in these extreme conditions to protect themselves?
Thankfully, the city has temporary emergency resources for New Yorkers who need a place to escape the heat. We will come back to that temporary word in a moment.
During heat emergencies, hundreds of cooling centers open across the five boroughs, and the city has increased street outreach to people experiencing homelessness.
This summer, the city launched an initiative that sent out “COOL” vans to provide water and medical care, and offer transit to cooling centers for individuals.
These resources are vital and can absolutely save lives, but they are not the full-picture solution. Here is where we come back to that word “temporary.”
A cooling center and city initiative can provide temporary relief, but it cannot provide a home.
What happens to unhoused individuals when an extreme weather event lasts for days or weeks? When the cooling center closes, where can they turn?
Public health advice tells people to “stay indoors,” which assumes people have somewhere safe to stay. For someone sleeping outside, moving between shelters, or living in an unstable housing situation, extreme heat or poor air quality doesn’t mean finding a place to lie low for a couple of hours.
It can mean figuring out where to sleep, where to store water, food, medications, and personal belongings, where to charge a phone, and where to go next.
Housing is climate infrastructure.
And while that may sound like a big, sweeping statement, this summer has made the connection pretty hard to ignore.
A safe home isn’t just a place to sleep at night. It can be the place where you escape a dangerous heat index, close the windows when wildfire smoke fills the air, keep your medications cool, charge your phone, cook food, and recover from the stress of simply getting through another extreme weather event.
As climate change continues to make extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and other weather events more frequent and intense, stable housing will only become more important to our ability to stay safe. The question of who has access to that safety is also a question of who is most vulnerable when the weather turns dangerous.
For young people experiencing housing instability, the stakes can be even higher.
They are not only navigating where they will sleep or how they will stay safe during the next heat wave; they are also trying to learn, grow, build relationships, and imagine a future while dealing with circumstances that can make all of these key components of growing up so much harder and taxing.
That is why the work of organizations like Mentor A Promise matters.
By supporting NYC youth experiencing housing instability through mentorship, education, and social-emotional support, Mentor A Promise helps provide some of the consistency and support that young people need when so much else in their lives may feel uncertain.
We can’t control the weather, and we can’t solve the ongoing housing crisis overnight. But we can make sure that young people experiencing housing instability don’t have to face these challenges alone.
Supporting Mentor A Promise means helping create that steady source of support, and investing in young people who deserve the opportunity to thrive, no matter where they are sleeping tonight.
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